I don’t know how many times over the past thirty-four years that I have walked out of the Knoxville Raceway on a Saturday night in August thinking "wow, that was the best Nationals ever!" I’ll admit, it has been several times and that is why I don’t know exactly how many times I have felt that way. Who knows, maybe I am easy to please, but I do know that it has been a few years since the last time that I said that to myself. Last year was such a struggle with the weather and included the frustration of having the championship night moved to Sunday, so maybe the recent memory of that one made this 50th edition seem so much better. And, with the sheer range of emotions that I experienced over the final ten laps on Saturday night, future Nationals will be hard pressed to prompt me to say "that was the best Nationals ever", ever again!
If you are a regular reader of the Back Stretch you know that I normally follow a certain format when I report on an event that includes what is essentially a race story followed by a set of side notes that I feel are of interest. When it comes to the Nationals though, I take a different path as I will still place a standard bet that I am the only person walking around the place with press credentials hanging around his or her neck that also paid for a ticket for all four nights. Sitting in Section I, Row 20 along with friends and family, most that we only see for four nights a year, is every bit of part of the Nationals experience for me so the notebook stays in the car. And that is why you are not going to find a detailed report here of how this, the best ever Nationals as far as I am concerned played out. For some notes from the two intriguing qualifying nights, read the past two entries here, and for the full details of the Saturday night finale I encourage you to watch the delayed broadcast of the event on the Speed Channel on August 28th. But for now….
Much was discussed this past year or two about the 50th Nationals being a fifty-lap race and most of that discussion was in a negative tone. I believe that one prominent driver was even quoted this week as saying that it would be a fiasco. Well, if it would have been a traditional thirty-lapper, we really don’t know who would have won it as just as the caution waved on lap twenty-five for the mid-race pit stop Donny Schatz had a run on Sammy Swindell coming down the front straightaway. Would Schatz have made the pass if it stayed green? Would Sammy have been able to return the favor? We’ll never know that one.
The "pit stop" itself was nowhere near as "exciting" as one thought, and infield announcer Mike Roberts confirmed that other than changing tires and refueling, nobody made any significant changes during the break. On the restart Swindell blocked the low line into turn one and kept Schatz far behind until they started working traffic. With about fourteen laps remaining Schatz made a bold run at Swindell in turn three and drove up the track in front of him, but the cushion wouldn’t hold him and when Schatz bobbled to recover, Swindell drove back around him to the delight of the near capacity crowd.
It looked like the win was Sammy’s as he pulled away after that exchange, but the caution waved with (I believe) six laps remaining for Brian Brown who had shredded a right rear tire while running in the top four. What happened after that will be remembered for everybody who was in attendance no matter who they were pulling for. On the restart Swindell and Schatz traded the lead on the track at least three times as Donny would throw a slider and Sammy would counter by kicking off the cushion to drive back under him. Coming around for lap forty-seven Schatz finally made a move stick in turn four and he went to the cushion in one and two. Swindell charged to the bottom in turns one and two and looked like a slot car that was glued to the track as he drove off the bottom of two with the lead once ago down the backstretch. As Swindell slid up the track in turn three to close the door on Schatz his left rear tire exploded and he spun backwards before tipping over onto his top. Ten years ago the place would have gone nuts as in those days Swindell would have been the villain and Schatz the hero, but we race fans are a fickle bunch and there was a stunned silence that overtook the crowd as what would have been a storybook victory for Swindell had just been vanquished.
The silence turned to applause though as Sammy climbed out and first stood atop his still upside down car, then that applause grew even more as he walked from turn four into the infield. Then we all saw something that we never thought we would see. The veteran driver who has always been labeled as stand-offish or arrogant when in fact he is just a quiet, evenly emotional man, stopped and acknowledged the cheers by taking a bow to the grandstands. This despite the utter disappointment that he had to be feeling at the moment. The crowd erupted and started chanting "Sammy, Sammy, Sammy…." as he continued that long walk back to the pits. I’ll admit it, he has been my favorite for many years and to hear this replace the boos and catcalls that were normal in the past was really something to experience and nearly brought a tear to my eye.
So after all of this, we still had three laps remaining to determine who was going to be this year’s Knoxville Nationals champion. With Schatz now sitting out front, and with the vast majority of the crowd wanting to see someone else in victory lane rather than the driver that four years ago saw his first win here come to the thrill of the crowd; who three years ago impressed the crowd by following up that title; who two years ago got a smattering applause with his third straight win and who last year thrilled direct family and friends with his fourth straight (remember, we race fans are a fickle bunch), all hopes were now pinned on either Tim Shaffer or Shane Stewart to stop that run. Schatz was able to shake off the first attempt by Shaffer, but then a wisp of smoke was seen out of the #15 and Shaffer saw his golden opportunity as he drove under Schatz in turn two with just less than two laps remaining to take the win in front of a grandstand full of people who were jumping up and down, waving their hats and hugging whoever was sitting near them in celebration. The streak had ended, and as Shaffer celebrated in victory lane, I noticed that several of the fans around me joined in applause for the runner-up Donny Schatz. After all, race fans are fickle, but we still appreciate excellence!
Considering the action and the drama of the two qualifying nights and the way that the final ten laps played out here on Saturday night, it truly was the best Nationals ever! At least until next year. :)
One last note, a huge congratulations to Josh Schneiderman who as the one and only Iowa driver in the A-Main came from the twenty-third starting spot to finish 13th. What a great way to celebrate twenty-five years of racing for the Deuce Racing crew, I know that his papa Bart has a smile on his face that won’t go away for a long time to come!
That’s it for now, get out to your favorite track soon and make some memories.
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